As organizations navigate the impact of new work-location-related strategies on compensation and benefits programs, incorporating people-centric data while providing context and transparency can help ensure their post-pandemic strategy aligns with optional work-location decisions and organizational culture.

Many organizations have taken initial steps to support new in-office, work-from-home and hybrid models by pulling various rewards levers, such as donating to individual employees’ preferred charities as an enticement to working in-office. Some HR groups have offered additional PTO or reimbursement for commuting costs to soften the blow of return-to-office requirements. Still other HR teams have instituted new compensation strategies to support hybrid working models (e.g., in support of a more distributed workforce where remote work is normalized or to incentivize recruiting local talent expected to make appearances at a nearby office), including adopting a single-pay structure regardless of location.

While individual steps can yield positive results and valuable insights, an optimal solution requires a more comprehensive and cohesive response. Post-pandemic rewards strategies dovetail with broader HR focal points, including cultivating deeper understandings of employee needs, informing with people-centric data, developing more varied (even customized) compensation and benefits packages, and leveraging the rewards strategy to support cultural objectives and attract talent.

Philosophical debates about the nature of an organization’s unique culture often arise as executive leadership teams figure out optimal work-location game plans. Taking the following steps – most of which relate to data, context and candor – can help HR leaders ensure that the post-pandemic rewards strategy aligns with work-location decisions and organizational culture:  

• Be fair: Fairness and consistency are crucial pillars of an effective compensation and benefits program. While the vast majority of HR groups responded to COVID disruptions in heroic fashion, some employee segments have been more adversely affected by post-pandemic location and rewards decisions than other segments. For example, return-to-work mandates may pose a steeper challenge to single parents balancing longer commutes with child-care responsibilities. From an inclusion perspective, it is vital to evaluate the fairness of location-related rewards decisions across all employee segments.

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